[shuotong]

Hi, just want to share some of my progress recently, after spend 7000km on the Castrol Edge 5w40, the car starts to vibrate at idle rpm,(550-600 on dashboard) wouldn't call it a rough idle as it's not that serious yet, but everyone (includes passengers) can feel the vibration coming from steering wheel and seats. This goes away immediately if I hit accelerator pedal to raise the rpm for about 100, and doesn't happen when the car is cold (where rpm would be 700-1200).
I wasn't really expecting that but this problem is solved with an oil change, here's a summary of what I did.


Old oil: Castrol Edge 5w40 (US Castrol) @10k km
Old filter: Fram XG10075, don't use it, just search FRAM XG10075 Torn and you'll see what I say.
Put a can of Liqui Moly engine flush and idle the car for 10-15 min as instruction.
New oil: Mobil 1 0w40 with a can of Liqui moly createc.

Car is bought a year ago and have a oil pan gasket fix, the engine looks fantastic that time with no sluggish. As ceratec is just a friction modifier I wouldn't think that contributes any to this issue, other things, engine flush, new oil filter, doesn't seem something that can solve a idle issue, but it did, even my friends who rides my car noticed after I change the oil.
It also runs smoother at lower rpm, before the car would vibrate if I drive too slow at my tiny underground parking of the condo, where rpm is between 500-1000, and I may have to downshift to 1st sometimes, but now I can go all the way in 2nd gear.
Hope this helps for someone experiencing the same issue.

[Biginboca]

Call me a skeptic but I doubt it’s from the oil. My guess is maybe you had your oil filler cap work it’s way loose since last oil change and you retightened it after the new oil change. You symptoms sound like a minor vacuum leak and Castrol is good oil in all weights.

[BalkanAvenger]

Having same issue. Have not been able to figure it out. Going to be doing engine and transmission mount swap soon - will let you know if that fixes it.

[shuotong]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

Call me a skeptic but I doubt it's from the oil. My guess is maybe you had your oil filler cap work it's way loose since last oil change and you retightened it after the new oil change. You symptoms sound like a minor vacuum leak and Castrol is good oil in all weights.

Oil filter cap was not lose because when this thing happens I take the oil filter out to inspect. The filter element is a little off the shape but it still holds in place, I put it back and retighten the oil filter cap to 25Nm.
I agree the Castrol Edge is good oil, and even bad oils shouldn't let this happen. I think it's either filter element itself or seals, because there are 2 seals comes with the filter, when CDN Tire change my filters they don't replace the small seal on the tip of the oil filter cap, I can tell this by looking at the colour: Fram filter comes with orange seals and only the main seal are orange, the small seal are black, and it's BROKEN into 2 pieces when I try to take it off. Can't imagine how long that seal has stayed there to make a rubber ring so fragile.
I don't know what the small seal on the tip does though, so I can't conclude it.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by shuotong

Oil filter cap was not lose because when this thing happens I take the oil filter out to inspect. The filter element is a little off the shape but it still holds in place, I put it back and retighten the oil filter cap to 25Nm.
I agree the Castrol Edge is good oil, and even bad oils shouldn't let this happen. I think it's either filter element itself or seals, because there are 2 seals comes with the filter, when CDN Tire change my filters they don't replace the small seal on the tip of the oil filter cap, I can tell this by looking at the colour: Fram filter comes with orange seals and only the main seal are orange, the small seal are black, and it's BROKEN into 2 pieces when I try to take it off. Can't imagine how long that seal has stayed there to make a rubber ring so fragile.
I don't know what the small seal on the tip does though, so I can't conclude it.

Filler Cap not Filter Cap

[Mircea]

Just want to mention that I've been running Castrol Edge 5w40 ever since I got my 325i even though everyone's recommending 0w30 or 0w40 and I've never had any issues or vibrations.
Car does vibrate a bit heavier than normal when idling from cold but that's for about 2-3 minutes until it all steadies and is so smooth I have to sometimes check the RPMs at traffic lights to see if the engine's running at all lol

[shuotong]

I checked oil filler cap yesterday, even I take it off the vibration is still less than what I experienced before, and I couldn't feel anything if I just lose the cap.

[shuotong]

Originally Posted by Mircea

Just want to mention that I've been running Castrol Edge 5w40 ever since I got my 325i even though everyone's recommending 0w30 or 0w40 and I've never had any issues or vibrations.
Car does vibrate a bit heavier than normal when idling from cold but that's for about 2-3 minutes until it all steadies and is so smooth I have to sometimes check the RPMs at traffic lights to see if the engine's running at all lol

My car idles silk smooth from cold start because of higher rpm, but what I experienced is noticeable vibration comes with noise, the exact noise you'll hear when you release the clutch and let the rpm drop below idle and engine is about to shut down.
The only reason I switch to mobil is the ambient temperature, I remember the Euro Castrol 0w30 has similar viscosity to Mobil 1, so I didn't bother with it.

[bartbes]

Mine also has rough idle with a cold engine.
I suspect injectors. N53

[Mircea]

Originally Posted by bartbes

Mine also has rough idle with a cold engine.
I suspect injectors. N53

Check my thread here because I've been through it as well lol

But long story short and £2000 later, injectors were the issue.